"Fritz had the same problem, we saw Djokovic throw up" - Patrick Mouratoglou rubbishes claims of Jannik Sinner faking his struggles in Shanghai

Jannik Sinner was last seen in action at the Shanghai Masters, where he was forced to retire midway through his second round match. While the Italian’s withdrawal raised some eyebrows as fans speculated he was faking his struggles, Patrick Mouratoglou recently rubbished these claims and came to the former World No.1’s defense.

Sinner arrived at the Shanghai Masters as the reigning champion and got his title defense off to a strong start. He beat Germany's Daniel Altmaier 6-3, 6-3 in his opening round match. Up next, he took on Tallon Griekspoor and he was trailing the Dutch player 2-3 in the third set when he pulled out of the match due to leg cramps.

Recently, Patrick Mouratoglou, who coached Serena Williams between 2012 and 2022, weighed in on Jannik Sinner's retirement, saying in a video shared on his Instagram,

“To explain Sinner's cramps, there is only one word: humidity. Fritz had the same problem, we saw Novak Djokovic throw up two times. It's not the first time Jannik has cramps. He had cramps against Carlos in Roland-Garros, but this was tension.”

He went on to add that his team would probably make changes certain changes in his schedule during humid tournaments going forward, explaining,

“Until it happens to you, there is no reason to change anything. Once it happened, his team will probably organize differently the next time he's going to play in such conditions. Probably incredible the drinking also before the match, because during the match, at a certain point you cannot drink more. And this is where Waterdrop for example is important, because when you sweat that much, you're also losing everything that is in your body, that you need to function. If something is missing, your body can shut down, and that's what happened.”

Several players other than Sinner struggled with the conditions at the Shanghai Masters, with Frenchman Terence Atmane retiring from his opening round encounter due to heat stress.

Jannik Sinner scheduled to return to action at Vienna Open

Jannik Sinner in action at the 2025 China Open (Image Source: Getty)

After the disappointing end to his campaign at the Shanghai Masters, Jannik Sinner is now scheduled to return to action at the Vienna Open. The ATP 500 event is slated to take place between October 20 and 26.

For Sinner, a victory in Vienna is an absolute in order for him to stay in the running for the year-end World No.1 honor. Challenging the Italian at the tournament will be the likes of Alexander Zverev, Alex de Minaur, Lorenzo Musetti, Daniil Medvedev, and Frances Tiafoe amongst others.

Edited by Riddhi Acharya